Foldable door structure



Dec. 27, 1932. F. A. GUTH 1,892,340

FOLDABLE DOOR STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 17, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet l gwuentoc 8FA. Gu th l L 63mm;

Dec. 27, 1932. GUTH 1,892,340

FOLDABLE DOOR STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 17, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 27,1932. F. A. GUTH FOLDABLE DOOR STRUCTURE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 17,1930 LRL gwuzntoo Dec. 27, UTH 1,892,340

FOLDABLE DOOR STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 17. 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 PatentedDec. 27, 1932 FREDERICK A. GUTH, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO FOLDABLE DOORSTRUCTURE Application filed October 17, 1930. Serial No. 489,415.

This invention relates to improvements in collapsible doors and isparticularly directed to the vertically moving and folding type used inconnection with garages, repair shops and other buildings of likecharacter.

The primary object of the present inven- 'tion resides in the provisionof a door of this type which may be raised vertically and folded o:nested at the upperend of the door opening and be completely out of theway to avoid interfering with the vehicles passing in and out of'thedoor opening.

Another object is to provide a door structure which is formed in aplurality of pivoted panel sections hingedly united along theirlongitudinal edges and which sections are capable of being folded in anaccordion fashion, one upon the other in vertical order when raised andcapable of being maintained in this position by a novel mechanism which,together with counterbalancing means, permits the operation of openingand closing the door structure to be carried out by the operator in aneasy and convenient manner.

Another object of the invention lies in providing novel means foreffecting the folding of the panel sections comprising the door so thatthe sections will always maintain a certain angular relation withrespect to one another during the raising and lowering thereof and to beheld in positions free of strains and stresses at the ends thereof.

A still further object of the invention is to provide power operatedmeans, such as an electric motor, for efl'ecting the opening and closingof the door and to include means controlled by the movement of the doorfor automatically controlling the operation of said electric motor.

With these and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features ofconstruction, combinations of elements and arrangements of partshereinafter to be more fully described and pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a building 50 equipped with the doorsformed in accordance with the present invention, one of which is shownpartially opened or folded,

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the door structureshowing the same in a closed position,

Figure 3 is a similar View showing the door in a partly opened or foldedposition,

Figure 4 is also a similar view showing the door in its fully openedposition,

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken onthe line 55 of Figure 2,

' Figure 6 is a similar View taken on the line 66 of Figure 2,

Figure 7 is a detail vertical sectional view through the pivotalconnection for one of the handle members of the door,

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 88 of Figure 2,

Figure 9 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on the line 99 ofFigure 8,

Figure 10 is a similar view taken on the line 1010 of Figure 8,

Figure 11 is a detail view showing the hand control of the door lockingmechanism,

Figure 12 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 1212 of Figure11,

Figure 13 is a view showing a slightly modified form of the inventionwherein a transom is used in connection with the door structure,

Figure 14 is a vertical sectional view showing the transom and the doorin a closed position,

Figure 15 is a view showing the transom closed but the door structure inan open position, 8

Figure 16 is a view showing both the transom and the door open,

Figure 17 is a side elevation of a further modified form of theinvention wherein power operated means isused for controlling theopening and closing of the door structure,

Figure 18 is a horizontal sectional view taken above the motor structurefor operating the door mechanism and showing the same in elevation, 9

Figure 19 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on the line19-19 of Figure 17 Figure 20 is a detail view showing a chain connectionused in connection with the door mechanism,

' the location of the door ah Figure 21 is a transverse verticalsectional view taken on the line 21-21 of Figure 17,

Figure 22 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 22-22 ofFigure 17 showing the door in its closed position disclosing ingmechanism,

Figure 23 is a detailed ragmentary view of the structure disclosed in Fire .22 and showing more in detail the wor ing of this mechanism,-

Figure 24 is a diagrammatic view showing a s(tiill further modified formof the invention, an

Figure 25 is an edge elevation thereof.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates abuilding, which in this instance has been shown as that of a garage and,for the purpose of illustration, has been provided with two doors one ofwhich is shown partly folded or opened. Preferably, the doors areoperated independently of one another and by separate mechanisms,although it will be understood that it is within the scope of theinvention to couple up two or more doors for simultaneous operation.

The door opening indicated by the numeral 2 which is of a sizepermitting of the passage of motor vehicles therethrough, is covered anduncovered by a door structure 3 comprising a plurality of panel membersor sections 4 which are hingedly united to one another as at 5 alongtheir longitudinal edges and as illustrated in Figure 2 'of the drawingsare arranged on edge one above the other in a single plane to completelyclose the door openin Each of the panel members 4 is provi ed withhorizontally extending pivot studs at their ends which are located inthe longitudinal axis of the panels and on which the latter are mountedto swing in a vertical plane of movement. The studs 6, which may beanchored at the ends of the panels or door sections 4; in any suitablemanner such as by a threaded connection with plates 7 projects intochannel members 8 through the open sides thereof and are provided withcollars 6' which are positioned within the open sides of the channels 8.The collars serve to permit easy turning movement of the door sectionsand to prevent undue friction between the channels and the pivot studs6.

Mounted on studs 6 and positioned between the ends of the panels 4 andthe channels 8 are links 9 which are of a length substantially equal tothe height of the panels and which are pivotally connected as at 10 toeach other at their ends. The links serve to keep the panel sections atuniform angles with respect to each other during the folding thereof andregulate the turning movement of the panels so that they will fold andunfold in an orderly manner and prevent binding or straining action onthe pivots and hinges thereof. The ends of the links may be bentslightly to impart to them a shape of an 8 so that when the door is in acollapsed position the links will lie one upon the other in a parallelorder without crossing each other. It will be noted by inspection ofFigure 2 that the pivots at the ends of the links 9 are located inalignment with the hinges 5 of the panel sections and that said hingesare positioned in a plane on each side of the pivots 6. Thus, the panelsor door sections will readily open or swing on their pivots upon upwardlifting on the door 3.

To keep the pivotal axes of the panel member in a true horizontal planeduring the folding of the door and to prevent sagging of the door at oneend or side thereof, the top links 9a which are located at each side ofthe door are formed somewhat shorter in length and have their upper endspivotally connected to arms 11 fixed at the end of a cross shaft 12journaled for rotation within bearing members 13 secured to the underside of the upper edge of the door frame. It will be seen that by theprovision of the shaft 12, equal rocking movement will be imparted tothe links at each side or edge of the door and that the ends of thepanel members will be raised simultaneously, assuring free and easymovement thereof devoid of strain due to lagging or sagging of one ofthe sides of the door. As the shaft 12 is located in vertical alignmentwith the door pivots, the upper edge of the top panel section 4 is cutaway as at 14 in order to permit the closing of the door and to form aweather-tight joint at the upper end of the door structure. Also, toform weathertight joints along the side edges of the door the channelmembers 8 may be mounted for limited lateral movement within metalliccasings 15 carried by the side edges of the door frame and forced in anoutward direction therefrom by short coil springs 16 positioned betweenthe casings and the channels.

This floating mounting of the channels 8 allows the same to engage thelinks 9 and tends to hold the same against the edges of the door and topermit the channels to move in and out relative to the casings 15 so asto take up any differences in length of the panel members caused byexpansion or contraction.

To counterbalance the weight of the door, weights 17 are provided ateach side of the door which are positioned for sliding move ment Withinweight compartments 18 and connected with the doors by means of cablesor chains 19 passing over pulleys 20 located at the upper end of thedoor frame and over sets of pulleys 21 carried by the upper end of theweights 17. The arrangement of the chains is such that one thereof ispassed over certain of the pulleys 20 and 21 and the ends of the chainconnected to the pivot studs 6 of the upper and lower of the panelmembers 4, whereas the other chain, which also passes over other of thepulleys 20 and 21, is conaesaaao nected with the )ivots of theintermediate panel members. this manner, the same may be of equal lengthand only one weight at each side of the door will thus be necessary tocounterbalance the .panel members.

To facilitate the raising of the door structure of the preferred form ofthe invention shown in Figures 1 to 12, inclusive, the lower of thepanel sections 4 is provided near its upper edge with a handle member 22which is mounted for rotation within a bracket 23. Fixed for rotationwith the handle 22 is a lever 24 which has its ends connected to one endof the chains 25 which in turn are con nected at their opposite endswith latch bolts 26 mounted for sliding movement within casings 27secured near the outer edges of the panel section 4. Cooperating withthe latch members 26 are keeper members 28 carried by the door frame. Byrotating the handle member 22 the latch members 26 may be withdrawn fromthe keepers 28 thus unlocking the door which may then be raised by. thehandle. The lockin of the door may be automatically efl ecte by theclosing thereof due to the bevelled faces provided upon the latchmembers 26 and the coil springs 29 which allow the latch members to moveto a position seating themselves within the keepers 28, as will bereadily understood.

In the modified form of the invention disclosed in Figures 17 to 22,inclusive, use is made of an electric motor 30 for raising and loweringthe door structure and which motor may be of the reversible type andconnected with any suitable circuit controlled by a switch or switcheslocated at convenient points, such as has been located on the frame ofthe door and is indicated by the numeral 31. For convenience ofinstallation the motor is positioned above the door structure andinterior of the building and mounted on a platform 32 supported bybracket members 33 secured to the inner wall of the building structure.Provided upon the motor shaft is a worm gear 34 which meshes with a gear35 mounted for free rotation upon a shaft 36 extending the full width ofthe door and has its ends journaled within bearings 37 Keyed orotherwise secured to the outer ends of the shaft are sprockets 38 overwhich are trained sprocket chains 39 extending vertically and alongtheouter edge of the door. The chains are also trained over sprockets 40positioned near the lower edge of the door which are mounted forrotation within brackets 41. The chains 39 are held taut by means oftension springs 42 attached to the lower ends of the brackets 41 and thedoor frame. variation of the chains in length and slack which maydevelop. The sprocket chains 39 are provided with links 43 formed withbear.- ing openings for the reception of the pivot y connecting thechains in The-springs serve to take up any studs 6a of the lower of thepanel members 4. Thus, by this connection betweenthe chains and thepanel member movement imparted to the chains 39 will raise and lower thedoor sections to open and close the same as desired.

To establish a drive between the motor 30 and the shaft 36, a springactuated jaw clutch 44 is provided upon the shaft 36 which is keyedthereon for sliding movement and which is normally in engagement withthe gear 35. It will therefore be seen that as the motor is startedmotion will be imparted to the door sections through the chains 39, theshaft 36 and through the gearing 34 and 35. If the motor should fail tooperate for any reason or the electric current should be shutoff, theclutch 44 may be provided with a hand control in the form of a rockinglever 45journaled for rotation within a bearing carried in connectionwith the platform 32. One end of this lever is arranged for engagementwith the clutch 44 and the other end provided with an arm 46 to which isattached one end of an operating cable 47. The cable 47 is trained overa pulley 48 attached to the door frame and the lower end thereofprovided with a handle 49. By means of the control the clutch may beheld out of engagement with the gear 35 and the ddor operated by pullingor lifting on the chains 39. The

door in this, as well as in the preferred form,

may be counterbalanced so that it may be readily operated for openingand closing. To prevent injury to the mechanism for opening and closingthe door in case the motor should continue running after the door is.completely opened or closed or in case the provided with suitably spacedpins 52 which will engage the movable arm of the switch breaking thecircuit when the door has been fully opened or closed. To insurecomplete closing of the door the lowermost panel meniber 4 is providedwith a roller 53 which extends beyond the edge of the panel and engagesthe cam member 54 mounted for pivotal movement within the bracket 55carried by the door frame. The cam. 54, which is formed with a pair ofarcuate cam surfaces is held normally against the door frame by means ofa coil spring 55. Upon the closing of the door the roller 53 will engagewith the inner cam surface and tend to rock the cam outwardly againstthe action of the spring 55. This tension of the spring 55 tends toforce the roller 53 and the door inwardly into contact with the doorframe. The roller 53 will,

upon the final closing of the door, move downwardly of the cam surfaceand clear the lower end of the cam 54 at which time the compressedspring 55 will again return the cam into engagement with the door frame.Upon the raising of the door the roller 53 will again engage with thecam 54 but will follow the exterior cam surface thereof and thus aid inmoving the door panel outwardly, the relation between the roller 53 andthe cam surface of the cam member 54 being particularly illustrated inFigure 23 of the drawings.

From the structure so far described it will be seen that a door has beenprovided which is entirely automatic with the exception of starting themotor, after which the movement of the door will control the operationof the motor. The door when in an open position will be completely outof the way and will not obstruct adjacent doors or windows nor consumewall space. Neither can a door of this construction blow shut when open.or vice versa, which is a common fault with doors of the ordinaryconstruction. The door is not only balanced in weight, but each sectionthereof is centrally and laterally pivoted and balanced individually sothat wind pressure has no effect thereon as the amount of surface abovethe pivot for each section equals that which extends below the pivot.

In buildings where ventilation is desired, a swinging section 56 may beprovided at the upper end of the door opening which may serve as avtransom. In such a case the door opening must be of an additional heightto accommodate the swinging member. Under ordinary conditions the doormay be raised to a point even with the bottom of the panel 56, but whensaid member is swung to a position raising the same as illustrated in Figure 16, the door may be raised to an additional height therebyaccommodating high vehicles, such as trucks and the like. In thisinsiance, the cross shaft 57 which ordinarily would be located at theupper edge of the door, as the shaft 12 in the preferred form,

is raised to a point slightly above the hinge connection for theswinging panel 56 and connected to the links 9 by means of a pair ofarms 58 and 59. The arms 58 are rigidly attached to the shaft 57 and thelinks 59 are similarly attached to a second shaft 60 connecting the arms59 for simultaneous movement. The arms 58 and 59 are of such length andso arranged that they do not interfere with the raising and lowering ofthe door structure or the transom and serve together with the shafts 57and 60, to connect the links 9 positioned at each side edge of the doorin order to hold the door sections in true horizontal positions duringthe raising and lowering thereof. Any suitable means may be provided forholdingthe section 56 in its open position, such as by a rod 61 pivotedat its upper end to the side frame of the secaseasao tion and its lowerend is provided with a laterally ofi'set finger 62 which is ositionedwithin an opening formed in a p ate 63 attached to the side of the doorframe. If desired, the section 56 may be provided with a transparentpanel so as to admit light to the interior of the building. To shade thedoor opening and to hide the outer edges of the folding sections acurtain 64 may be attached to the lower edge of the transom and may beof the spring operated type in order that it may be readily rolled upwhen not in use.

In Figure 24 of the drawings there has been disclosed a modified form ofmechanism for taking the place of the links 9. This mechanism consistsof providing a cross shaft 65 located above the door with pulleys orsprockets 66 of varying diameters which are keyed to rotate with theshaft and over which sprockets the chains connecting the pivots for thepanel members may pass. Thus, in this structure the chain connecting thepivot for the upper of the panel members may pass over the smaller ofthe pulleys and around one of the pulleys carried by the weight 67 andthen back over the larger of the pulleys and to the lower of the panelsections and the other chain connecting the two intermediate sectionsmay pass in a similar manner over the two intermediate pulleys and overthe other pulley carried by the weight. It Will thus be seen that themovement of each of the panel sections will be timed so as to fold andunfold properly. By the employment of this mechanism for controlling themovement of the doors, the door panels may be set flush with the edgesof the door frame as the links 9 are omitted.

It will be seen that various changes may be made in the construction andoperation of the door structure, and I therefore do not desire to limitmyself to the exact details shown and described in the drawings otherthan what will fairly fall within the scope and spirit of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A door structure comprising open sided casings carried by thevertical inner edges of a door opening, channels mounted for lateralmovement within said casings, a plurality of panel members hingedlyunited to one another and mounted to swing about horizontall extendingpivot studs positioned within sai channels, said pivot studs beingarranged for vertical sliding movement within said channels andpermitting'of the raisin and lowering of said panel members, an weightsconnecting said studs and adapted to counterbalance said door structure.

2. A foldable door structure comprising a plurality of panel membershingedly united to one another along their meeting edges, means formounting said panels for orizontal swinging movement and for verticalsliding movement relative to the side edges of the door opening, meansfor effecting the raising and lowering of the panels, and a sprmgpressed cam member carried by the door frame and adapted to be engagedby one of said panels to force said cam outwardly and thereby arrangethe panels in vertical alignment.

3. A door structure comprising casings car-' ried by the vertical inneredges of a door, and having its open sides located within the confinesof said opening, channel members mounted for lateral movement withinsaid casings, spring means interposed between said casings and channelmembers for exerting pressure against said channel members outwardlyaway from said casings, a plurality of panel members hingedly unitedwith one another along their horizontally extending edges positionedbetween said channel members and provided with pivot studs at their endswhich are received within said channels, said pivot studs being arrangedfor vertical sliding movement within said channels and permltting of theraising and lowering of said panel members and the simultaneoushorizontal swinging movement thereof, said channel members serving toclose the open space between the ends of the panels and the side edgeson the door opening to effect a substantially weather-tight jointtherebetween.

4. In a collapsible door structure, a frame provided with a door openinghaving vertically disposed casing members located at the sides thereofwith their open sides directed into the opening, channel memberstelescopically positioned within said casings with their open sides alsodirected into the door opening, a foldable door structure positionedbetween said channel members comprising a plurality of foldablesections, pivot studs for each of said sections positioned within saidchannel members for effecting the sliding and rotary movement of saidsections, and resilient means positioned between said casings and saidchannel members for exerting an outward pressure on the latter againstthe ends of said door sections.

5. In a door structure, a frame provided with a door opening having itsvertical side edges thereof provided with inwardly opening casingmembers of a substantially similar formation telescopically mountedwithin said casing members and provided with inturned edges at theirouter ends forming slots opening into the door opening, a plurality ofpanel members comprising a door structure positioned between saidchannel members and having their ends provided with pivot memberspositioned within said channel members and extending through said slots,said panel members being hin 'edly united along their horizontal meetingedges to effect the collapse thereof to a nested form at the upper endof a door opening, means connectbetween the ends of said panel membersand the sides of the door opening when the panel members are in alowered or extended position.

6. A door structure comprising open sided casings carried by thevertical inner edges of a door opening, channels mounted for lateralmovement within said casings, a plurality of door panels hingedly unitedto one another and mounted to swin about horizontally extending pivotstuds positioned within said channels, said pivot studs being arrangedfor vertical sliding movement within said channels and permitting of theraising and lowering of said panels, a horizontally extending shaftarranged above said door opening, an arm provided at each end of saidshaft, and an operating connection between said arms and the .upper ofsaid panels whereby the panels will be raised and lowered uniformly andwithout binding in said channels.

7. A structure comprising a plurality of door panels hingedly united toone another and mounted to rock about horizontally extending pivot studsfixed centrally at the ends of the panels and arranged for verticalsliding movement within grooves provided therefor in the side edgesof'the door opening, a shaft journaled for rotation above said doorstructure and extending the full width thereof, an arm provided at eachend of said shaft, and connecting means between said arms and panelswhereby the panels are held in a true horizontal plane and capable ofbeing raised and lowered without bind.

8. A door structure comprising a plurality of door panels hingedl unitedto one another and mounted to roc about horizontally extending pivotstuds arranged for vertical sliding movement in connection with theinner edges of the door opening, a shaft journaled for rotation abovesaid door structure and extending the full width thereof, an arm at eachend of said shaft, and means connecting said arms with the panelswhereby upon the raising of said panels to uncover the door opening,said shaft, arms and connecting means will serve to guide the panelsinto nesting relationship at the top of the door opening withoutbinding.

9. A door structure comprising vertically positioned channel membersmovably carried by the vertical inner edges of the door opening, aplurality of panel members hingedly united to one another and mounted toswing about horizontally extending pivot studs arranged for verticalsliding movement within said channels, a shaft journaled for movement atthe upper end of the door opening and extending'over the full widththereor, an arm provided at each end of said shaft, and links connectingone another and fulcrumed on said pivot studs, said links together withthe panels forming. a lazy-tong arrangement, the top link on each sidebeing attached to said arms.

10. A door structure comprising a plurality of panel members all of thesame size and each being hingedly united to the other at thelongitudinally extending edges thereof, each of the panels beingprovided with pivot studs arranged at the ends of the panels andcentrall; thereof, which studs are mounted for vertical sliding movementwithin grooves formed therefor in the side edges of the door frame,links united to one another at the ends and having their intermediateportions fulcrumed about Said studs, said links together with the panelmembers forming a lazy-tong arrangement, a shaft extending above thedoor structure, and an arm at each end of said shaft connected to theuppermost of said links In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

FREDERICK A. GUTH.

